Kraft and Sara Lee face rising pork prices

In the US markets, both Kraft and Sara Lee are feeling
an additional squeeze on their pork and beef costs.

With the American public facing rising inflation and a possible recession,
the companies will find it tougher to offset their costs by charging higher
prices for cold cuts, hot dogs and sausages.

Analysts believe that both companies need to thread carefully when raising
their prices to avoid losing market share to cheaper, non-branded meats.

Brenda Barnes, CEO for Sara Lee, commented in February that her commodity
costs had increased more than US$170 million in the previous six months. Higher
costs contributed to weaker-than-expected profit of 22 cents a share in Sara
Lee's most recent quarter, about 2 cents below expectations.

To cover the rising costs, Kraft is "actively reducing its business expenses"
and developing new products, she says.

Both companies' dominance in the packaged meat segment may help them overcome
the bad times. Sara Lee has around 18% of this market with Kraft occupying
around 19%. No other company has more than 10%.

In 2007, Sara Lee had meat sales of US$2.6 billion, or 21% of its total
revenue. Kraft doesn't provide meat sales figures but says Oscar Mayer brands (a
subsidiary of Kraft) had more than US$1 billion in sales last year.